paranormal romance

I’m really happy to have Michele Hauf visiting the blog today. Michele has been writing romance, action-adventure, and fantasy stories for over nineteen years. She has a huge backlist of fab books, and she’s a very accomplished writer. Let’s find out what’s going on in her world.

You write both historical and paranormal romance. Do you prefer one to the other?

I actually ADORE historical romance. I would love to incorporate more of it in my paranormal stories, and have with Seducing The Vampire, and by giving my characters some rich histories that go back centuries. I love the 17th and 18th centuries, and could lose long hours just going over pictures of the clothing they used to wear. So when I do write historical, it’s all my fantasy. Stuff I’d wear and things I’d do if I had a time travel machine. 😉Why do you think vampire romance is so enduring in its popularity?

Well, you’ve got the sexy hero who promises eternity. I mean, who doesn’t want to live forever? And vampires are just a little something different from the standard contemporary romance heroes that readers love. So if you’re looking for something more…

What’s your new book about?

BEAUTIFUL DANGER pairs a vampire hero with a vampire hunter heroine. It’s dark and twisted (just the way I like it). The hero is probably one of my most tortured heroes yet. He is literally insane. He’s been through some rough torture thanks to a pack of werewolves. But he escaped, and now he’s vowed revenge against the pack. Enter the heroine, who has an extreme hatred for vampires (they killed her husband), and does it sound like those two could ever get together? The story is set in my favorite place, Paris, and weaves in music as a possible means to healing.

What’s up next in your writing world?

At the end of August, I’ve a novella, KAMBRIEL. She is the sister to Malakai (who had his story out in Jan). She’s also Blu & Creed’s daughter. She’s ventured off to Paris to ‘find herself’ and gets in serious trouble with none other than the devil Himself. Johnny Santiago (Vaillant and Lyric’s son) falls in love with her, but can he really love a woman who belongs to the dark prince? I’m excited for readers to get their hand on this story. It is another addition to my BEAUTIFUL CREATURES world, and it’s written for my usual readers, but this story can also be labeled New Adult.

Denise A. Agnew writes suspenseful, edgy, and erotic award-winning novels. RT Book Reviews called her romantic suspense novels “top-notch” and her erotic romance PRIMORDIAL received one of RT’s coveted Top Picks. She also writes cool time travel romance, paranormal romance, and–well, tons of stuff! She’s obviously a very accomplished and prolific writer.

I’m happy to feature Denise on the blog today, and one of her latest books,Blackout. Here’s the blurb for this paranormal romance:

The house at the end of the street has always been haunted. When a solar flare challenges the world to remain civilized, one man and one woman will face an evil lying in wait for all who dare enter…

Cassie Kovac has spent the last ten years rebuilding her life after witnessing her abusive husband commit suicide, and surviving a tsunami. She’s vacationing in the high mountain town of Bowmount, Colorado when a solar flare takes out the grid. Fear tears apart the little community, and the only thing standing between her and certain disaster is a man with a cloudy past.

Ex-marine Neal “Griff” Griffin’s life is shadowed in darkness. He won’t talk about his mysterious past. His childhood was marred by the unspeakable, his life spent erasing things too horrible to dare remember. Until he sees Cassie, and primal male instincts to protect come to life. When the world goes to hell, he realizes he’d do anything to protect her.

When Cassie and Griff face the haunted house, they don’t expect the building to come alive with a personality all its own. Fighting against the unknown threatens to rip apart the fabric of their minds, and make their survival and new love one step closer to impossible.

Man, don’t you love a good haunted house story? Especially when you have a hot ex-Marine to help out! And I love the whole element of an isolated town and a solar flare taking out the electricity grid.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

They settled at a big round table with an umbrella near the back entrance to the resort. Since the umbrella shielded them from direct intense sunlight, she took her hat off and shook her hair out. She felt Griff staring at her, but his sunglasses were so dark she couldn’t see the expression in his eyes. Eager to talk, she unzipped the backpack at her feet and retrieved her sketch pad.

She opened it to the roses, and shoved the pad across the table toward him. “McPhee had a strong reaction to these roses. He asked me where I’d seen them, and I explained that I saw them at the house.”

He drew his sunglasses off and lay them on the table. “I’ll be damned.”

“What?”

He looked up at her. “When I went down the hill I was curious about the house. I wanted to understand why the roses are blooming one day, dead the next, then alive again.”

She gave him a sardonic smile. “You didn’t just leave because you didn’t want to answer my questions about your past?”

“That too.” He tapped the sketch of the rose with his index finger. “But the roses, the house pulled me there. I went there because I was curious.”

“Not because you feel there’s anything, well, weird about the place?”

“Weird?”

“You know.” How could she say this? She decided coming out with the bald truth would work best. “Haunted?”

“You believe in the paranormal?” His tone was laced with disbelief and maybe a tad scorn.

“I’m a skeptic for the most part, but there are things have happened to me that aren’t easy to brush off.”

He stared at her a long time before ducking his gaze to the sketch of the rose bushes. “What makes you think the house is haunted?”

“Why did you want to go back there?” She persisted. “Was it just because you were curious about what we both saw? Or was it because you didn’t want to argue with me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Cripes, Cassie, you are a bulldog on the questions.”

She snorted a laugh. “Yeah, well, so are you.”

He puffed air out between his lips. “Like I already said. I was curious. And before you can ask, no, I don’t believe in the paranormal.”

“Because you’ve never experienced anything you couldn’t explain?”

“I didn’t say that. I figure there’s a logical explanation for everything. Just because we can’t come up with one right now doesn’t mean it’s all woo-woo.”

She shifted in her chair, sinking down farther to get more comfortable. Unfortunately the hard wood didn’t give an inch. “Okay, do you have any theories?”

“Yeah. Someone moved in there since Sunday.”

She sensed he was hiding something again, leaving her in the dark. “What happened when you went down to the house by yourself?”

He kept his gaze on the sketch pad, flipping to the picture of the Point she’d drawn on Sunday and the one she’d drawn today. “Like I said before, I walked down the driveway and checked out the rosebushes. I didn’t see tire tracks, but it looked like they’d been run over.”

“Do you think Dougray did it?”

“I didn’t see him with a car, did you?”

“No.” She drew her hands through her hair, wishing she’d tied it into a ponytail this morning. “Did you see anyone else at the house?”

“Not a soul. I went up to the front door. I didn’t knock.”

When his gaze met hers, she saw confusion within him. “You could have cleared up the mystery of the possessed roses if you talked to the people who’ve moved in.”

“I don’t think anyone was home. The house felt empty. But not.”

That statement threw her. “Okay, now you’re freaking me out. What do you mean by it was empty but it wasn’t?”

He made a sound of contempt down in his throat, a sort of growl. “I don’t know.”

She smiled to take the sting out of her next words. “Sounds woo-woo to me.”

“When I was in the sandbox my instincts kept me from getting my ass shot off on more than one occasion.”

“Sandbox?”

“Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe in instinct. Nothing paranormal about that.”

She almost refuted his statement, but decided if she wanted him to reveal more of his thoughts and past, she couldn’t antagonize him repeatedly. They went quiet for a short time while she sipped at her water.

He closed her sketch pad and tapped the cover with his finger again. “I suggest we just forget McPhee’s problems and weird-assed roses at that house. But I think he’s right. You shouldn’t go back to the Point. Especially not alone.”

A chill rippled just under her skin. “I have no plans to go up there alone, especially when Dougray keeps turning up everywhere I am.”

Satisfaction filled his face, and for the first time in a while, he looked relaxed. “Good.”

Once more the quiet enveloped them. Only the whispers of a light breeze and birds chirping interrupted their quiet.

He stood slowly. “I have an idea. Penny seems like an A-number-one gossip. Maybe she can tell us something about the house.”

She grabbed her pack and water bottle, enthusiastic about his idea. “Now that makes sense. Hey, I think I’m starting to like this little mystery.”

He came around the table and stood close to her. “Don’t get too excited. Little towns like Bowmount are good at keeping secrets when it’s dirty laundry.”

He left her long enough to toss his empty water bottle and hers into the recycle bin nearby, then crossed the short distance to return. As he walked, his powerful male body called to her libido in a way no man had in years. Maybe ever. He was a mystery she might not solve, but that didn’t mean he didn’t continue to intrigue her on several levels. She didn’t like that at all, but she could control sexual urges as well as the next woman.

He stood close again, looking down on her. His gaze was interested, a melting heat that warmed her from the inside out. With him so close and what had happened yet today, her emotions responded. She couldn’t deny the constant tug and retreat within her when this man got close, or when he spoke to her in that low, sexy voice.

“Thank you for coming back from the house. Back to the Point,” she said.

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “You thought I wouldn’t come back?”

“It crossed my mind.”

“I may be a rude bastard, but I’m not that much of a jerk.”

She laughed, genuinely amused by his assessment of himself. “I don’t think you’re that rude.”

His smile faded, his mouth compressed in a stern line. “I should have taken you with me. I wanted to give us both time.”

“I know. But you’re still not going to tell me anything about your past, are you?”

He bit his lower lip for a moment, and her attention caught on his well-cut, masculine mouth. “It’s a complicated past.”

Well, I’m hooked! And for my readers, Denice will be giving away a digital copy of one of her books – reader’s choice. Just tell us if you like to read scary books or watch scary movies! And don’t forget to check out Denise’s website for the scoop on her many books, and for buy links.

Brenda Jernigan is a bestselling, award-winning romance author with a distinguished career. She writes in multiple genres, including contemporary fiction, western and medieval romance, and time travel romance. In fact, Brenda’s latest book is a time travel, and it sounds really cool. Here’s the blurb:

Alexandria Dumont is a doctor of rehabilitation medicine working long hours at Regional Hospital as she finishes her residency.Lately, she hasn’t had much time for a life. Her one treat is going to the flea market.

When she buys a portrait of an old Southern Plantation, she can’t get over how intriguing the picture is. It is a beautiful plantation surrounded by live oaks draped in Spanish moss, but the reflection in the lake doesn’t show its grandeur. It reflects a home burned to the ground. When she moves the portrait, a child’s diary falls upon the bed and Alexandria begins to read.

The next morning when she finds herself in 1835 she figures she has finally gone off the deep end. Nothing makes sense. Alexandria is unsure why she has fallen back to 1835 until she meets a crippled child she knows she can help walk again. However convincing the child’s brother, the arrogant Brad Wentworth, who hates doctors, that she can help his sister to walk again might be the biggest task that she has ever encountered.

As Alexandria sets about her task, she finds River Bends Plantation holds many secrets. Finding the answers to those secrets just may cost her . . . her life.

I’m very happy to be hosting romantic suspense author Terese Ramin on the blog today.Terese writes multiple award-winning romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and thrillers.She has a new book out—let’s find out about that, and ask Terese a few other questions, too!

I won the Golden Heart Award for the first book I ever completed – Water From The Moon. I had two editors request the book and after six complete revisions of the second half of it (!), it was published. It launched my career in romantic suspense / romantic adventure.

You write romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and thrillers. Do you prefer one genre to another?

You know, it just depends upon the characters. I love all of the genres I’ve written in, but my writing also seems to go through cycles. I’ve just completed work on a thriller and gone straight into a paranormal romance that feels like it’ll be the best book yet (with writing partner Dawn Johanson). After that I’ve got a historical suspense whose characters are yelling at me to Give Them Their Time. *grin* I love all these personalities and the fact that I can switch gears in a way I never used to be able to. But honestly, suspense is probably the biggest part of any genre I write.

Guarding Grace is about a widowed mom in her early 30s with four kids. Her hero is a 6’4″ US Marshal hunting down a federal witness who left Witness Protection. Mal Kwarles is the sexiest, funniest hero I’ve had the pleasure to write. Just love him. My editor asked for him and I resisted at first. She was right – he arrived full blown on his “Bad to the Bone” classic motorcycle and let me throw everything at him. He just laughed and said “bring it on.” Great fun, loved the romance between him and Grace, who is decidedly feisty herself.

What’s up next in your writing world?

Next…I’m in the completion stages of the first book of a new paranormal series Lords of Light. It’s different than anything I’ve done previously and it’s allowing me to explore aspects of my work that never occurred to me – and working in collaboration with my writing partner is absolutely freeing. We bounce things off one another, come up with story and action points and it’s simply a wonderful experience. The book’s characters are different – a fallen angel / psi-vamp and a human woman with extraordinary gifts she doesn’t know about. It’s set in San Francisco, one of my favorite cities, and is probably the sexiest thing I’ve ever written. I’m really looking forward to exploring the entire series!

Thanks so much for coming on the blog, Terese! Readers, Terese is graciously giving away three digital copies of Guarding Grace – which sounds totally awesome, by the way. Just tell us what are some of your favorite romantic suspense or thriller books or TV shows for a chance to win!

“Get ready to be blown away by powerful romance and action in Seduced by Blood. I am so excited about this book I can hardly stand it.”

Wow! High praise, indeed.

Laurie is starting a new series with her Iron Portal books. She’s kicking things off with her Assassin’s Touch novella, which is already getting great reviews:

“Ms. London begins her Iron Portal series in style! Assassin’s Touch grabs the reader from page one and gives us a fierce and passionate story…The plot line keeps you on the edge of your seat aching to find out what will happen next. I cannot wait to visit the Iron Portal series again!” Joyfully Reviewed, Recommended Read

Haunted by loss, Cascadian assassin Rickert D’Angelus is on a mission of vengeance. Determined to stop the Pacifican army from finding a portal to his world, he leads a group of warriors into New Seattle with one goal—to kill Pacifican soldiers.

Neyla Trihorn had the perfect life until a deadly accident revealed her latent para-abilities. Now, the former fashion designer is the Pacifican army’s hottest commodity in their fight against the invaders.

When Rickert discovers a beautiful, unconscious soldier on a cold mountain ledge near the portal, he realizes she’s a Protection-Talent and cannot be killed. To prevent the army from using her skills again, he takes her as his prisoner instead.

One fated touch…

But when he pulls her into his arms, a sexy and compelling vision appears, awakening something inside him. Something he can’t ignore.

Torn between duty and passion, Rickert must decide if the vision is a Talent trick designed to foil the enemy or the answer to his deepest desires…

Sounds excellent, doesn’t it? And what a great cover! To read an excerpt, be sure to visit Laurie’s website, where you’ll also find the buy links to all your favorite retailers.

For my readers today, Laurie is giving away a copy of her new novella. To be eligible to win, just tell us what qualities you like to see in your romance heroes in general, and your paranormal heroes in particular!